DirecTV Cuts Jobs

8/24/2001 4:48 AM Eastern

By: Monica Hogan

DirecTV Inc. began the first corporatewide job cuts in the company's historyFriday.

Spokesman Bob Marsocci said notifications to individual employees areexpected to continue until the end of September. He could not estimate how manyjobs or what percentage of the work force would be impacted.

While most departments will lose workers, the company will continue to addnew customer-service agents, Marsocci said.

DirecTV president Roxanne Austin addressed the company's roughly 3,500employees across the country Wednesday in a live broadcast over thedirect-broadcast satellite airwaves.

Marsocci blamed the layoffs on the sluggish economy and said the actions werenecessary to cut costs and to ensure the company's long-term future.

'The pending transaction is irrelevant,' he added, indicating that the cutswere not made to appease a potential new owner.

General Motors Corp. wants to sell DirecTV and its parent, Hughes ElectronicsCorp.